2019–20 NHL season
The 2019–20 NHL season will be the 103rd season of operation (102nd season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL) that will begin on October 2, 2019 and end on April 4, 2020. The 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs will begin a few days afterwards, with the Stanley Cup Finals held in late May and early June. The entire schedule was released on June 25, 2019. League Business Collective Bargaining Agreement The current collective bargaining agreement (or CBA) will enter into its eighth season. Before the season starts, the NHL can choose to opt out of the CBA on September 1, 2019, or the NHLPA can choose to opt out of the CBA on September 19, 2019. Either way, the CBA would expire at the end of the 2021–22 season. Salary cap The Salary Cap is $81.5M, as announced on June 22, 2019. Rule changes The following rule changes were proposed June 19, 2019 and approved the next day: *The league adopted the David Leggio Rule: deliberately moving the goalposts off its moorings to stop play on a breakaway will result in an awarded goal to the offensive team. *In the event a net is inadvertently knocked off its moorings, or if a puck shot from beyond center ice is stopped and frozen by the goaltender, the face-off will take place in the goaltender's defensive zone, with the team on offense given choice of side. In such cases, the defensive team will not be allowed to make a line change. *A puck that leaves out of play in the offensive zone will remain in the offensive zone for the next face-off. *All major penalties except for fighting will be subject to automatic video review; officials will reserve authority to reduce the penalty to a minor penalty depending on the result of the review. *Players that lose their helmet during play must return to the bench as soon as it is feasible until it can be replaced, or the player must retrieve their helmet. Player and puck tracking technology After testing at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game, the NHL plans to deploy player and puck tracking systems to all 31 NHL arenas prior to the start of the 2019–20 season. This technology was developed by SAP and Sportvision, using microchips embedded inside pucks and jerseys. It enables on-air features such as speed displays, puck tracking graphics (reminiscent of the FoxTrax graphics utilized in the late 1990's by previous U.S. national NHL broadcaster Fox, also developed by Sportvision), and marker graphics hovering above players. Media rights This will be the ninth season under the NHL's ten year deal with NBC Sports and sixth season of its twelve year Canadian rights deal with Sportsnet and TVA Sports. On January 2, 2019, the Chicago Blackhawks agreed to an exclusive multi-year deal with NBC Sports Chicago beginning with the 2019–20 season, ending the team's broadcasts on WGN-TV. Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios combined to purchase the former Fox Sports regional networks (FSN). Twelve of the NHL's 31 teams (Anaheim, Arizona, Carolina, Columbus, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Florida, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, and Tampa Bay) carry their television broadcasts through FSN. FSN was one of the properties Fox Corporation's predecessor 21st Century Fox divested in its sale to The Walt Disney Company, but which The Walt Disney Company could not keep due to antitrust concerns. This is Entertainment Studios' first entry into sports, while Sinclair has had a sports operation since 2014 that currently distributes the free-to-air network Stadium and is concurrently expanding into the regional sports network business with its stakes in these networks, YES Network and the upcoming Chicago-based Marquee Sports Network. Draft The 2019 NHL Entry Draft was held on June 21 and 22, 2019. Preseason games in Europe Two preseason games will be played in Europe. The Chicago Blackhawks will play against Eisbaren Berlin at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Berlin, Germany, on September 29, 2019. The Philadelphia Flyers will play against Lausanne HC at Vaudoise Arena in Lausanne, Switzerland on September 30, 2019. Coaching Changes (*) Indicates interim. Regular Season The regular season will begin on October 2, 2019, and will end on April 4, 2020. International games Three regular season games (branded as the NHL Global Series) will be played in Europe. The Chicago Blackhawks and Philadelphia Flyers will play their regular season-opening game on October 4, 2019 at O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. The Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning will play two games at Ericsson Globe in Stockholm, Sweden on November 8 and 9, 2019. Outdoor games Three outdoor games have been scheduled for the 2019–20 season: *The fifth Heritage Classic will be held on October 26, 2019, at Mosaic Stadium in Regina, Saskatchewan, featuring the Calgary Flames and the Winnipeg Jets. *The Winter Classic will be held on January 1, 2020, at Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, featuring the Nashville Predators and the Dallas Stars. *The Stadium Series will be held on February 15, 2020, at Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado, featuring the Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche. All-Star game The 2020 NHL All-Star Game will be held in St. Louis, Missouri, at the Enterprise Center, the home of the St. Louis Blues on January 26, 2020, as the All-Star Game will return to Sunday. Uniforms *To coincide with the 50th anniversary of the franchise in the NHL, the Vancouver Canucks unveiled brand new home and away jerseys that will be worn during the season. The Canucks will also wear brand new third jerseys for select games. Finally, the Canucks will wear their 1990s throwback jerseys for select games. The design was chosen via an online vote over two other throwback jersey options. Category:NHL seasons